Stanice Pavlov, a recognised animal rescue station in the Czech-Moravian
highlands, succeeded after several years of set-backs in successfully
breeding a litter of European mink. The European mink, an endangered
animal, has disappeared from most of continental Europe as its natural
habitat – wetlands – became more and more rare. And that’s not the
only detrimental factor.

European mink, photo: CTK
I spoke to the director of the Pavlov rescue centre Zbyšek Karafiát, who
confirmed the four mink young, born in May, were healthy and would soon be
named. He told me how the situation for European mink had grown so
precarious.

“The European mink, once common across the continent, is very much
endangered and the factors which led to this are several: one was the
disappearance of wetlands and meadows and flood-plain forest. The second
factor is that they used to be hunted for their fur and third they have
been driven out and today prevented from returning to the wild by the
American mink.

“The American species was bred on farms for their pelts but some escaped
and bred in the wild. They are twice as big as the European mink and have
no natural predator; the European mink was driven out.”

Zbyšek Karafiát points out an additional factor was that while American
and European mink could try and mate, the animals are unable to
successfully crossbreed. The rescue station’s director again:

“The American male chases away the European one and mates and can
impregnate the European female, but the embryos never survive but die at a
certain point. This badly disrupts the female’s reproduction cycle –
for the year – and further leads to dwindling population numbers.”

Indeed, the two adult mink kept at Pavlov are the only ones in the entire
Czech Republic, the male originally provided from the zoo in Děčín and
the female from the zoo in Tallinn, Estonia, under the European Endangered
Species Program. To successfully breed, the animals need to be made to feel
secure in their surroundings and stress can mar even success, with the
parents killing the offspring. That was not the case this year.

Zbyšek Karafiát, photo: Czech Television“Last year the mother killed her young within the space of a week,
eating them so we had to be very careful for that not to happen again.
Generally-speaking not enough is known about the reproduction process of
these mink but we know that stress can play a huge role and that they are
very susceptible to it, that is what happened before. This year, we were
very careful that their keeper was the only one that basically entered
their surroundings with food, someone the animals could trust, and the
space was left exactly as the animals wanted it, in certain disarray in
which they are comfortable. So this year’s breeding, we believe, was a
success.”

What’s next for the European mink being raised at Pavlov? Zbyšek
Karafiát says the future of the young has yet to be decided but some of
the young, when they are older will be relocated to different parts of
Europe. He said he expected that the females would remain at the station he
heads, that under the existing program they would receive a new male for
breeding and that the males would be sent abroad.

Of course, the role of the Pavlov Centre, as successful as it has been
this year is greater than just raising endangered mink. Zbyšek Karafiát
once more:

“We serve the entire region of Vysočina and other animals we are
currently caring for include four otters, numerous birds of prey including
an Imperial eagle, a Peregrine falcon, a red kite, and many others
including a small population of endangered hours of which only 70 are left
in the wild. Our role is also to teach environmental issues to children and
school kids who visit throughout the year. Kids learn about the animals and
we see about 5,000 visitors each year.”

Photo: Czech Television
And while the work never ends, those who work at the animal rescue station
are heartened by the fact that locals continue to report when they spot
hurt animals or animals in distress, so they can be successfully treated
and cared for.

“That is our main aim: we can always help, at weekends, on holidays.
Right now we are in a period when we most often treat young, from various
birds to hares. Sometimes people mistakenly bring young in, so we care for
those animals too. Then there are all numbers of rare species which get
hurt and likely wouldn’t recover on their own. Thanks to people who
notice, they have a chance at survival and at returning to the wild.”